Flights from North America arrive at either Rome’s Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (sometimes also called Fiumicino) and Milano’s Malpensa Airport. European flights serve Italy’s many other airports, including Pisa and Florence, but Rome is the best choice for Orvieto.

Directions for Traveling By Train

Low-cost rail service is available from Leonardo da Vinci Airport to Stazione Termini in Rome, where trains regularly depart for Orvieto, on the rail line to Florence and northern Italy. Visit ITALIA RAIL for complete timetables.

If you’re arriving in Orvieto by train, you can arrange with us pickups and dropoffs at the station, which is a few kilometers from (below, actually) the center of town. Or, you can take the funicular (cable car) up to town and Bus “Linea B” (B line). Ask the driver to stop at “Piazza Ranieri.” (The town is walkable, but you may not wish to do so with a heavy bag.)

Car Rentals

Transportation (except to/from the train station) will not be provided. Because of the excellent rail service, renting a car is not necessary, but students may still want one. We will provide students with each others’ contact information well ahead of time so that those wishing to share a car rental can make arrangements. Car rentals are available from all the major travel sites, such as Expedia. We recommend adding insurance coverage, or acquiring a credit card that provides primary coverage Italy. Your personal coverage may not apply overseas.

Some students may be interested in renting a car only for the purposes of taking a day trip, for example to Todi or Lake Bolsena. There are rental agencies near the train station, including Hertz and Avis. Auto Europe has a rental office in the town itself.

Maps

Make sure to use everything you find on this page in conjunction with a detailed road atlas. Affordable ones are available from Touring Club Italiano or De Agostini at any highway rest stop and most newstands.

Left click on the image to view; right click to save.
Map 1 is Windows BMP Format. Maps 7 & 8 are JPG files.

Map 3 – Orvieto (Simple): Shows the town with major landmarks highlighted. Istituto San Lodovico is on Piazza de’ Ranieri, near the southwestern walls.

Driving Directions to Orvieto & Istituto San Lodovico

Refer to Maps 1 and 2.

1) If coming from Rome, take the A1 autostrada (highway) north, for Firenze and Milano. If coming from Milano, take the A1 autostrada south to Bologna, then Firenze, and then heading for Rome.

2) Take the Orvieto exit. This puts you near Orvieto’s train station (you can see both the highway and the train station in grid square A5 of Map 2).

3) Pay the exit toll. Follow signs for Orvieto. The road will circle around up toward the medieval town.

4) Follow signs for parking lot “Foro Boario,” which is on the opposide side of town from the train station and the autostrada. Until recently this parking lot (the town’s largest) was called “Campo della Fiera.” The latter is the name used on Map 3, in the southwestern corner. The parking lot is also marked with a blue “P” on grid square C1 of map 2. Keep an eye out for either name, and refer to the photograph at the bottom of this page. Please note that this is a pay lot (see below).

5) Take the elevator or the mechanical escalators up to Piazza de’ Ranieri (usually called simply “Ranieri”). The escalators will put you right in the piazza; with the elevators, you will have to circle around a block. Piazza de’ Ranieri is on the edge of grid squares C1 and C2 on Map 2, and is also marked on Map 3, near the southwestern walls.

6) Look for the Istituto San Lodovico! See the photo of the entrance, above.

Parking

The parking lot nearest to the Istituto San Lodovico (see step 4 of the Directions, above), is a pay lot that costs €12/day. Monthly subscriptions are cheaper; they should cost around €80.

Parking near the train station is free. It connects to town via the cable car mentioned above in the directions for traveling by train. You can see where the cable car (“funicolare”) joins the train station to the town in Map 2 (above), grid squares B4 & A5.

If you can see this above the parking lot, you’re in the right parking lot. See Step 4 of the directions, above.